Gaucho Women Wrap-Up U.S. Open with Pair of Silver Medal Finishes

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -
UC Santa Barbara alum Katy Freeman continued her impressive work at the U.S. Open Swimming Championships with a personal-best time in the 100-meter breaststroke Friday night.

Freeman, a former UCSB swimmer now competing for Santa Barbara Aquatics, placed second in the race with a finish of 1 minute, 5.35 seconds.

Jessica Hardy won the race in a world-record time of 1:04.45, her second world record in two days.

She set the world record in the 50 breaststroke with a split of 29.95 seconds when she time-trialed the 100 breaststroke on Thursday.

Hardy is competing for the first time since serving a one-year ban because of a failed drug test that caused her to drop off the U.S. Olympic team last year.

"Jessica went out super fast and Katy was catching her at the end but she ran out of pool," Santa Barbara Aquatics coach Gregg Wilson said.

Freeman won the preliminary heat in 1:07.28. Her spectacular showing in the final helped her jump more than 30 spots in the world rankings for the 100 breaststroke, and now she is No. 3 in the world.

"It was an amazing swim," Wilson said.

In the final women's event of the meet, four Gauchos swam their way to a second place in the 400 medley relay. The team consisting of Naomi Javanifard, Freeman, Katie Ure and Anne Marie May finished in 4:07.96.

Swimming fans, new this year, donations to The Gaucho Fund - regardless of the sport it supports - will be part of the "One Donation is Gold" system. This allows donors to purchase priority/premium seating and parking at UCSB games across several sports in addition to other benefits.

If you donate to swimming, you will have the opportunity to purchase tickets in the Gold Zone (priority/premium seats) at Harder Stadium for men's soccer, which includes priority parking and cushioned chair-backed seating. No longer will separate donations need to be made to secure priority seating to different UCSB sports. One donation, one fund: The Gaucho Fund.

Season tickets for the 2009 men's soccer season are on sale for only five bucks a game. Fans who purchase 2009 season tickets will be guaranteed the opportunity to buy tickets for the 2010 Men's NCAA College Cup hosted by UCSB at Meredith Field at Harder Stadium Dec. 10-12, 2010. To accompany the successful "Soccer Town, USA" slogan as part of the College Cup bid, a discounted family valued offer is also available where a family of five can catch games for only $2.50 per game! Family Plan package also includes three free youth t-shirts and memberships to the new UCSB kids club: GKids. Fans can easily buy tickets online or by calling 805-893-UCSB. To purchase your tickets click here.

Portions of the this release are courtesy of the Santa Barbara News-Press